So often, we wake in the mornings with little desire or motivation to actually get vertical and step into our day. When we do rise to standing, it’s often to begin the daily rush to get ourselves and our families fed, organised and packed off for their respective days away from the home – work, preschool/daycare, school, uni.
These first few moments after we wake is the perfect time to devote a few minutes to our bodies and our minds and to give ourselves just a little self-care before we launch into the “doing” of the day.
Here’s a collection of movements to help you re-awaken your mind and body and prepare for your day ahead. All you need is 10 minutes (so set the alarm just 10 minutes earlier and give it a go!) and a yoga mat or even just a space on the floor. You might even like to try it in bed, although be sure to keep your eyes open so you don’t fall back to sleep!
Start on your back, lying flat on the floor, with deep, even breathing, through the nostrils. Counting the same number for your inhales as you do for your exhales.
After 5 deep, balanced breaths, bring the body into a curve towards the left for banana stretch –
- Banana posture – laying on your back, bring your torso across to the right so that your head points to the top right corner of your mat. Then bring your right foot to the bottom right corner of the mat and bring your left foot to meet it. (this is a guide only- take this position to wherever you can comfortably take the lateral bend. We are simply trying to create a curve to the left with the length of our body – creating length all along the left side and slight contraction through the right side). Once you are in your comfortable curved position, bring your arms over your head, clasping your hand or perhaps bring your hands to opposite elbows, with the arms resting on the floor above your head. If you find ease here, you can also take your left ankle to cross it over your right, creating more of a stretch down your left side – but only if comfortable.
Hold the position for 5 breath cycles, thinking about lengthening the exhales, before gently releasing the legs and the torso back to the centre and moving onto the other side to repeat the process, again holding for 5 breath cycles.
- Easy Lying Twist –lying on the back, legs bent, feet on floor at mat width apart and out from buttocks comfortably. On exhale, drop knees to the right, inhale back up to centre and exhale to left. Repeat three times each side, breathing slowly and deeply on both the inhales and the exhales.
- Apanasana for 3 rounds ….lying on your back, legs bent and feet off the floor, just loose. Place your palms over your knees, arms extended. Inhale here, then as you exhale, bring your knees towards your torso, but let them come wider than your torso. Inhale back out, then repeat for 2 more rounds. Gives a gentle massage to both the abdominal muscles and the lower back.
- At the end of the 3rd round, drop the knees very wide of the torso and begin to make circles with the knees, guiding them with the hands – drawing a circle each with each knee, in a motion in one direction and then reversing the direction with the next three circles. Working into the hip joints.
- Dynamic bridge pose:
Come to lying on your back, legs bent, feet hip width apart on the floor so that your fingertips, with arms down by your sides, can just brush your heels. Keeping your knees over your ankles throughout this movement, inhale the arms up and overhead to rest briefly on the floor above your head and, as you do so, you will also be lifting your hips skywards, bringing your chest towards your chin as you do. At the top of the movement, exhale everything back down again and repeat 5 times.
- On the fifth inhale and raise, you may like to hold your body up but exhale your arms down, bringing the hands together under your body, straightening the arms as much as possible and pressing them into the floor with hands clasped (your shoulders sort of fold outwards to come more underneath you for this) and lifting up into a deeper chest opener just briefly, or for a few breaths. Always only come into the static posture if you feel strong enough and comfortable to do so. You are still getting a lovely chest opener and gentle back bend with the dynamic movement.
- After exiting out of your bridge pose, bring the knees into the chest and rock gently from side to side, getting a nice little massage for the lower back
- Roll onto hands and knees to come to a tabletop position – hands under shoulders and knees under hips. (a blanket folded under knees for cushioning if delicate in this area)
- Inhale and drop the belly towards the floor, tilting the sit-bones upwards and back as you tilt the pelvis far forwards. The gaze raises upwards slightly, gaining a gentle stretch at the front of the neck/throat, but keep the shoulders down away from the ears. The chest is filling on the inhale and almost pushing forwards of the shoulders, opening up as the shoulder blades draw towards each other.
- Exhale – draw the belly up towards the spine, rounding the spine upwards, dropping the head downwards, bringing the chin towards the chest. The tailbone curves downwards, the shoulder blades open up creating space between them across the upper back
- Repeat these two movements, moving with the pace of your breath, 5 times.
- Aeroplane twist….from tabletop, inhale the left arm out and upwards, following the hand with the gaze as you reach it out and upwards only as far as feels good for you. Exhale it back down again to the floor. Repeat another 4 times, moving with the breath. Then take the movement to the other side.
- From table top, inhale and drop the hips forwards, coming to an upward dog style position (arms straight, chest raised, chin tilted slightly upwards, the knees are still on the mat) then exhale and draw the hips back through table top to come to rest in extended child’s pose. (buttocks coming to heels, forehead towards the floor)
Repeat this flow of movement, inhaling forwards and exhaling back, 5 times, the come to rest in tabletop.
- Step the right foot forwards, placing it to the outside of the right hand, and staying down on the left knee, come to a low lunge position. Stay here for a few breaths, sinking the hips low and stretching into the right front hip flexor (whilst also gaining a deep stretch of the left hip joint).
- On an exhale, send the hips backwards, straightening into the right leg as you draw the hips back, tilt the pelvis forwards and try keeping the hips level (this will mean drawing the right hip back and the left forward slightly to level them up). You can inhale forwards again to low lunge and then exhale back to the hamstring stretch, moving in time with your breath from position to position, or you might like to spend a couple of breaths in each position before moving to the next and so on.
- Then return both knees to the mat and come back to tabletop and take this flow on the other side, finishing again in tabletop.
- From tabletop, raise the hips up towards the ceiling, coming to a downward dog position, taking as much movement here as you like to stretch into the backs of the legs and the hips. Then start to walk to feet up to the hands and come to a forward fold – tilting the pelvis far forwards and grasping opposite elbows with hands. Continue to breathe deeply, then, after a few breaths, either walk the hands up the legs and come to standing, or perhaps reach the arms out to the sides, inhale and lift the torso up to standing using the strength of the back, raising the arms up above and then exhaling them down by the sides.
And there you have it - you are vertical! You will have gently stretched the body, focused the mind on the present moment (there is nothing more present than the breath you are taking, and your focus on the breath has brought you firmly to the present) and awoken yourself ready for your day ahead with some movement and stretch. Begin your day like this and see how it makes you feel…judge for yourself the benefits of simple movement and clearing the mind of clutter – if only for a few moments at a time.
You never know – 10 minutes spent doing this simple routine to awaken might become your next new daily routine you decide to incorporate into your life!
Commentaires